


If it gets me (Will you be there?)

by prinz_charlie



Category: The Prom - Sklar/Beguelin/Martin
Genre: :), F/F, TW: Blood, and fighting, fantasy/magic all that AU, there might be a hint of a soulmates AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-31
Updated: 2019-09-07
Packaged: 2020-10-04 09:01:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20468450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prinz_charlie/pseuds/prinz_charlie
Summary: TW: BloodEmma was the most skilled magician of her age. She had never failed a mission, no matter how big. But when she discovers the one thing, that guarantees her, that every assumption she had ever made had been wrong, the tide is turning. In the next moment Emma finds herself on a mission that will decide over the future of human kind. Together with Alyssa, a gifted healer she might be crushing on, she travels magical forests in search of the one thing that spreads dark magic and turns nature against them. The only plan they both have: Don't get killed.orthe fantasy au





	1. Of trees and the end

As the clouds started to swirl and trace invisible patterns into the sky, she knew her fate was sealed. She needed to get out. Right now.

Emma would have never thought that after a month-long mission she would find herself completely lost in the dark in the middle of the night, out of energy and desperate for shelter. But for once in her life she had been wrong. The start of many times yet to come.

This wasn’t supposed to happen. She was supposed to hunt down that troll and get the information they needed, nothing more and nothing less. The bitter realization that she had failed sunk in with every passing second as she got more and more lost, despair and guilt settling in.

The walls of stone she had passed a few minutes ago still seemed to follow her every step and Emma was sure, that certain tress worked on confusing her. She could have sworn that the track she was currently walking down seemed familiar. As if the trees had formed and endless path that she would never be able to leave.

With every step she took, more of her energy and magical powers were drawn from her. Soon not a single ray of sunshine would make its way into the forest and all the creatures, that should never be seen by anyone, let alone magicians, would leave their lairs. Emma would only be left with the small dagger in her belt to defend herself. And with the darkness growing more and more stifling every second, her knees slowly grew wobbly.

She wasn’t used to this, she had never failed a mission before. And now she was completely and utterly lost. Angie had been right; these damn trolls couldn’t be trusted. But once again she trusted her powers and extraordinaire abilities more than the words of a dear friend. She was sure, that one day this would be the reason of her death.

Emma stumbled further forwards, her limbs growing weak. She had only been in this forest since noon and it had already sucked up almost every spark of magic that had been left inside of her. But just as she wanted to give in to the overwhelming need to sit down and accept her fate, already feeling tears in her eyes, a small, brown leaf landed in front of her feet. The blonde magician let her gaze wander upwards, towards the bilious green treetops.

“Don’t tell me this really just happened”, she murmured, the silence making it sound like a scream. “I’m hallucinating.”

Unless… Emma gazed at one of the trees and observantly examined its bark. She didn’t dare touch it, but what she saw was enough. This was it. The piece that completed the puzzle; the thing, that would destroy the world, but rescue her… at least for now.

Carefully she picked the leaf up, holding onto it like a lifeline. It felt warm, almost as if deep down it was still alive, but it slowly started growing cold in Emma’s hand and became a lifeless cluster of cells. One would call it the shadow of its former hidden mightiness. After thanking all the magic in the world and muttering some ancient formulas to show the leaf, that she was worthy of holding it in her hands, she gathered the last of her powers.

“I need help”, she whispered. “Please send someone, I need help.”

The leaf trembled in her hand, sensed the girl’s magical powers and started to glow. Then it crumbled away all at once, the pieces being carried away by a sudden gust of wind. And with that Emma’s wish was gone. All that was left for her to do right now was to sit down and wait. Not that she could do anything else. The spell had drained the last rest of energy and magic out of her.

It was only now, that she allowed her mind to leave the cage she had put it in, and the thoughts started to crush in on her. The world wasn’t safe no more, that she was certain of. Yes, it had only been a matter of time, but this was too early. Way too early. Trent had told her, that they still had over a year left to find enough people and hunt down whatever thing was sucking up all the magic, turning everything good onto its side. But now this had happened: The end had begun. And she would be a part of it.

The next thing Emma knew was the forest overpowering her as if it knew, what she was thinking of. She immediately tried to get rid of everything that had filled her brain, but it was of no use. The forest already knew everything.

Emma let out a scream, as she tried to pull herself together to run from the inevitable but failed. She felt the roots that had been buried in the ground breaking out of it and winding themselves around her legs to make her fall.

They succeeded.

She didn’t even make it a few feet, before all her powers left her, and she knew for sure that this fight had been lost. Tears started welling up in her eyes. She couldn’t end now, not like this. She was supposed to end it, or at least be a part of the team ending it. She had promised them, that she would return. This couldn’t be happening.

But it was.

Another of Emma’s screams howled through the dark, as the roots ripped her pants apart and blisters immediately welled up on the skin that had been touched by them. They built a cage around the magician’s legs, burnt them and then pulled Emma with them into the woods, to some place, where they could kill her in peace. She tried to pull out her dagger and cut the roots in pieces, but as soon as she thought of it, the roots wrapped themselves around her body and pressed her arms against it. They knew everything.

The last thing Emma would remember days later, was the sudden beam of light breaking through the darkness and a hand reaching through it. Then her body gave in to the absolute defeat.

\-----

A tornado of voices surrounded Emma. She didn’t realize, who they belonged to, didn’t know where they came from, didn’t know, why they were there.

Worried cries for support, someone shouting angrily. She felt herself being carried away in the eye of the whirlwind and people reaching out for her.

“We need help!”

“Go away!”

“What happened?”

She wanted to know the answer to the last question; she desperately wanted to know it, but at the same time her brain seemed to explode at the simple fraction of a thought. Within seconds her senses grew numb again and darkness surrounded her.

\-----

The whole world seemed to be located behind a curtain, the voices had left. She couldn’t see through the curtain, it was too dark and heavy. It made her feel empty and fulfilled at the same time.

Slowly Emma started to regain her senses. The curtain didn’t disappear, but suddenly she was able of controlling it. The more she concentrated on one of her senses, the thinner it became. She could hear voices from far away. They weren’t talking to her, but they weren’t the same she had heard, when she was slipping in and out of consciousness either.

Emma focused on them more and the curtain seemed to be lifted by an invisible force.

“It will be fine, I promise.”

Emma immediately recognized the voice as Trent’s, the coordinator of their group. Whenever there was a problem, he was the first to know about it and informed everyone about what their next steps would be.

“Are you sure?”

If Emma hadn’t felt dead inside, she would have probably recognized the new voice, that managed to get through the curtain. But like this the only thing she knew was, that she had heard it before. But why? She hadn’t ever left the safety of her group, if not to visit her grandmother, but even these visits became rarer every month. It had grown to be too dangerous and the last thing Emma wanted was to put her grandmother in danger. She was all of a family she had left.

“Absolutely, don’t worry Alyssa.”

Alyssa? Why did this name sound so familiar to Emma? It was just a name. It wasn’t supposed to sound like anything.

Trent continued. “Now go do what you need to do. It won’t take much longer. I promise.”

“Ok.”

The voices silenced but Emma knew, that it hadn’t been the curtain cancelling their tone this time for sure. She concentrated on it to make it dissolve into air but didn’t succeed. She couldn’t focus. Exasperated and tempted to give up Emma felt the curtain lowering, threatening to seal her off from the world again. But before she was trapped in the endlessness of wondering, she suddenly felt a certain kind of warmth spreading from one of her legs and her eyelids immediately fluttered. A few moments later the curtain was gone, and Emma opened her eyes.

“Oh, you’re awake.”

Emma’s gaze was drawn to the voice. It belonged to a brunette girl, probably about her age that was seated next to her. It was only now that Emma realized that she was lain down on a mattress. The girl’s attentive, brown eyes rested on Emma, studying her.

“Who are you?”, Emma asked, but in its place an unintelligible wheeze left her mouth.

“Just wait a second, I’ll get the others”, the girl said, instead of explaining everything to her and as quickly as Emma had seen her, she left.

Emma looked around once more. She was in her room of the team’s quarter, lain down in her bed. When she tried to get up and wanted to lift her shoulders off the mattress, they wouldn’t obey. Neither would her arms and legs. It felt as if tons of invisible forces weighed on them, keeping them in place.

“Emma! How are you feeling?” The door opened and Barry’s voice reached her ear.

“Dead”, she replied in her head.

Soon after four familiar faces appeared in Emma’s field of vision. Barry, Dee Dee, Angie and then Trent were all looking at her worriedly, Barry looking the most relieved out of them. Emma tried to answer his question, but once again her voice was trapped in her throat.

“Can’t talk, sweetie?” Angie raised an eyebrow slightly while taking Emma’s glasses and placing them on the bridge of her nose, so she could see again and smiled reassuringly. It made Emma feel a little better and she nodded while smiling thankfully at Angie.

“I knew it, didn’t I tell you that this wouldn’t end well? I told you!” Dee Dee triumphed loudly but was immediately silenced by Barry, who told her to shut up, while sitting down next to Emma.

“You gave us quite a scare there”, Trent stated and moved from his place next to Emma. “I’m sorry but I have to go, there are some important decisions to be made. But I’m glad you’re feeling better.” He smiled at her, even though the smile didn’t reach his eyes. In fact, the contrary was the case. Emma had never seen Trent look so worried.

He turned towards Angie and Barry. “I’m going to send Alyssa in, maybe try to join me until then. Too many people at once wouldn’t do any good.” Then he turned to Dee Dee. “Could you please come with me now? I need your help.” His voice was calm but allowed no argument. There was no doubt in how urgent the situation was.

Dee Dee seemed a bit surprised at the request and angry, that she would have to leave Emma so soon already. Still, she apologized to her and then left the room, Trent right behind her.

Emma nodded slightly as a response to their leaving, her head rebelling against it. But she ignored it. Right now, there were more important problems to be solved. Like for example the mystery of how she wasn’t dead yet and had landed here. She tried to sit up, but Barry gently pushed her back.

“Better not try that, honey. You’re still exhausted.”

Emma sighed. “What happened?”, she managed to question, whispering. Her voice didn’t sound like her own at all.

“You remember calling for help, don’t you?”, Angie asked, and Emma nodded. “Well, the message arrived here so we immediately searched for people near you who could get you out. That’s pretty much it.”

Barry shook his head expressively. “You make it sound like it wasn’t a big deal. It was the biggest deal in the history of biggest deals, we were already worried sick and looking for you all over the place. Your message just confirmed our assumption, that you were in danger.”

“Why were you searching? We agreed that I’d be gone for another week.” Emma didn’t understand. This was all too much for her brain. It still was far too exhausted to comprehend what was happening.

Barry let out an exaggerated sigh. “Honey, you should have been back a month earlier.”

Suddenly Emma didn’t care about her head ache anymore and sat up. “A month?!”, she shrieked. A month? Barry was kidding. That was the only reasonable explanation. She had always remembered to check the time, no matter where she had been, her biggest fear had been not returning in time! This couldn’t be true. Maybe she was dreaming…

Angie gently pushed her back, so she was lying down again. “Yes, a month. But you’re here now so everything’s ok.”

“But- “

“It’s ok, Emma. Don’t worry about that now. Alyssa took good care of you, she really is gifted.” Barry nodded in agreement. He seemed a lot calmer now, after he had told her the truth.

“Who-?” Emma’s question was interrupted by someone silently knocking on the door and opening it.

“Can I come in?” Emma immediately recognized the voice as the one belonging to the girl, that had been at her side, when she had woken up.

“Oh yeah, Alyssa honey, come on in, we were just about to leave”, Angie quickly excused themselves and stood up. Barry didn’t seem very happy with getting dragged out of the room by her, but instead of complaining he just smiled at Emma in an apologizing way and left the room.

And then she was left alone with Alyssa.

“Hey, how are you feeling?”, Alyssa greeted; her caring voice made Emma feel like she was really interested in her. Still, she couldn’t quite understand, why the girl seemed so familiar to her.

“Are you alright?” Alyssa sat down next to Emma and looked at her worriedly.

“Uh, yeah…” Emma hesitated and studied Alyssa’s face again. Her brain worked at full blast, comparing it to every single one it had ever remembered. “Why do I know you?”, she murmured absentmindedly, her gaze still not leaving the other girl. The brunette curls perfectly framed her face, making her somehow look like she could easily be an elf or some other mythical creature, who’s powers should never be underestimated by anyone… but in a good way.

“I’m sorry, what’d you say?” Alyssa looked up and Emma felt her cheeks immediately flushing a bright shade of red. She hadn’t meant to say that out loud.

“Uh, nothing, it’s… nothing. But yeah, I’m feeling ok.”

Alyssa smiled genuinely. “That’s good, I was hoping you would. The roots injured you pretty badly, I wasn’t sure if I could heal the wounds. But apparently it worked.” Alyssa sat down next to her now and carefully ran her fingers over Emma’s legs, that had been covered in blisters. “They healed nicely.”

Emma nodded. “Ok.” If she could have, she would have probably slapped herself. What kind of reply had that been?

“Ok”, Alyssa repeated laughing. “I hope you don’t mind, that we cut through your pants, but I could’ve never taken care of your legs otherwise.”

It was only then that Emma realized, that her pants looked like shorts now, not jeans that would protect her from everything. Well, apparently, they hadn’t anyway.

“It’s ok”, she said. “Don’t worry, I didn’t even realize… But can I ask you a question?”

Alyssa looked up from examining Emma’s legs and putting a viscous, green paste on the irritated skin, that immediately sucked it in. After a few seconds all the paste was gone, while Emma watched fascinated. She had seen so many things in her life already, especially magical things, but this was something new. Was Alyssa practicing new – dark – magic on her? Then again, Barry would never let anything like that happen to her.

Emma shook herself out of her thoughts and focused on Alyssa in front of her again. “Why don’t I know you?”, she lied, but immediately realized how stupid that sounded. “I mean, when I left you weren’t here, so how do you know me?”

“I came here just a few days after you left, at least Dee Dee said so. She told me that you were probably the best young magician she had ever seen and were out on a mission. She told me a lot about you, actually. And when you called for help, I happened to be near the forest you were in”, she explained.

“Oh, ok.”

Dee Dee had told Alyssa about her? Why? Alyssa was just another young magician, so why the hell would Dee Dee tell her about Emma? It couldn’t be important. Unless…

“Did she tell you anything else? About a mission maybe?”, Emma practically spat out, not caring about how rushed it sounded.

But to her disappointment Alyssa shook her head. “No, she never even mentioned one.”

Emma chose her next words wisely, before dropping them on Alyssa. “Do you know, how I called for help?”

Alyssa shook her head again and Emma bit down on her lip, a nervous habit that she had never managed to get rid of. That probably meant, that all the others in her team didn’t know about the danger they were in either.

“This is bad”, Emma mumbled under her breath. “This is really bad.” Then she looked up at Alyssa again. “Do you think I’m ready to get up?”

Alyssa looked torn between what to answer, but ultimately shook her head. “I don’t think you should try. Your legs are still pretty messed up and you haven’t eaten in two days. Your body could never carry your weight. Not that I think you weigh that much, but you’re still pretty weak. The earliest you could get up is probably in about three hours. And you have to eat something before that.”

Emma sighed disappointed but not surprised and nodded. “Ok.”

It wasn’t ok. She couldn’t even last thirty more minutes before she pulled herself up and let her legs dangle from the edge of the bed and stood up. She refused to just lie around without at least telling Trent about what had happened in the woods.

She discovered her dagger on the bedside cabinet and tucked it into her belt. It had grown to be a habit of hers, to never go anywhere without it.

The whole world abruptly started spinning when Emma placed her feet on the cold floor and pulled herself up to stand up straight, her brain was making her see stars. But instead of lying down again, like any sane person probably would have, she clumsily made her way to the door and held onto its knob for a few seconds.

She stumbled out of the room, not caring about the noise she made. As soon as she had entered the corridor, she heard Trent and Dee Dee arguing from behind a wall over something, that seemed to be from the greatest importance.

“We can’t just go out on a limb and hand every one of them a replica”, Dee Dee shouted.

“Don’t you understand? There’s no other way”, Trent argued earnestly, emphasizing the last four words.

“But what if we…”, Angie interjected, but was quickly silenced by Dee Dee continuing her rant.

Within the fraction of a second Emma made the decision to knock on the door leading into the room the voices came from and shortly after opened it. The room was stuffed with people, only a few of them Emma recognized. Had she really been out for that long? Barry was the first to react. He stood up, made his way to Emma and closed the door behind her.

“Emma, you little disaster, what are you doing here?”

“I need to tell you something”, Emma immediately stated, her voice wavering slightly.

“Can’t this wait?”, Dee Dee asked clearly irritated by the situation.

Emma shook her head. “No, it absolutely can’t.”

With this Barry led Emma, who was still dizzy, to the chair he had sat in and Emma started to explain everything that had happened on her journey, not letting herself be interrupted by anyone. When she described how the leaf had landed just right in front of her feet, a gasp went through the room, only the people Emma didn’t know were looking a bit confused.

“So, you’re telling us you called for help with a dead leaf? That fell from a tree in a… magical forest?”, Trent repeated, and Emma nodded vigorously, her head pounding.

“Yes, that’s the point! Trent, we don’t have any time left, we can’t wait anymore. We must have miscalculated everything, that’s the only logical explanation.”

Trent’s impenetrable face was only disturbed by the little wrinkles on his forehead that hadn’t been there when Emma had left. “I don’t know if we can risk that.”

“We have to”, Emma argued. Barry sighed next to her and opened his mouth, looking at the others surrounding them, who still looked as confused as they did seconds ago.

“I agree with Emma here”, Angie now said, interrupting whatever Barry had been about to say. “She’s the most skilled magician of her age and knows what she’s talking about. I don’t think we have another choice.”

“May I ask what all this is about?” A brunette girl Emma didn’t know, spoke up. She was probably around her age but didn’t seem as experienced in any way. “It was just a leaf, trees lose them, that’s normal.”

“That’s not normal Kaylee”, Barry now spoke up a bit desperate. “They’re _magical_ trees.”

The girl apparently named Kaylee shook her head. “So, what?”, she and Alyssa asked at the same time.

Dee Dee gave out an overdramatic sigh and rolled her eyes. “Don’t tell me you’re as lost as they are, Shelby.”

The girl sitting next to Kaylee let her head sink and didn’t give an answer. Shelby reached for Kaylee’s hand without looking up, as if she needed something to reassure her, that she hadn’t just embarrassed herself in front of one of the most talented magicians in the world. Kaylee took it.

“This is going to be harder than I thought”, Dee Dee muttered passive-aggressively followed by uttering unintelligible phrases under her breath.

But she wouldn’t get to complain any further, because now Trent made himself be heard again by loudly clearing his throat and stamping his foot. After asking everyone who didn’t know the consequences of a dying leaf to leave, which had been greeted by disappointed murmuring, there were only Emma and the four adults left in the room. Trent sighed and massaged his temples.

“Ok, so… we all agree on what our next step must be, don’t we?”

Everyone nodded. “We have to act now”, Emma repeated the phrase she just kept telling everyone ever since she had entered the room.

“I’ve never even heard of a magical tree dropping a leaf before. They keep them because it’s the sign of their power and what is good”, Angie sighed. “The dark is more advanced than we thought, there’s no other way, I’m with you here.” She looked at Emma who nodded.

“Do you have a plan, Trent?”, Barry now inquired, moving from his place on an old wooden table onto a free chair and wiped small drips of sweat off his forehead.

“Well, I do have one, but it’s very risky.” Trent looked around, his gaze wandering to the door. “Dee Dee, I need what we were just discussing, only far more replicas. The others need to be educated and then we have to go with our original idea.”

Emma raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“I’m going to let the others in on the plan”, Angie now hurried, stood up and walked over to the door. She smiled at Emma in an apologizing way and left the room. Emma wouldn’t understand why for a long time.

“Don’t tell them everything”, Trent shouted, as if he was sure that Angie knew what he meant and then turned towards Dee Dee. Emma watched as they quickly got into a heated discussion about some replicas, to which Dee Dee gave in in the end and angrily stomped out of the room. Barry kept murmuring something about a unicorn and left the room, probably to follow Dee Dee. And then Trent turned towards Emma, who somehow knew, that what she was about to hear wouldn’t be good in any way.

Fifteen minutes later she had been proven right.

The only thing she actively remembered of the conversation was, that the world was hurrying towards the edge of existence, more magic was turning against the human race every second and if they failed, people would die. Many people. What kept the world from falling into the canyon of damnation for now, was hope. Hope, to find a certain unicorn, not to become insane and not to die.

And for now, the hope pressed on Emma’s and Alyssa’s shoulders.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! I've got some pretty cool stuff planned out for this so please stick with me, it's going to be an emotional rollercoaster! Kudos and comments make me incredibly happy!


	2. Notice me, please

Three days later everything had been planned out and Barry smiled at Emma reassuringly and encouraged her to go. They were running out of time – it was the only reason Barry hurried her, but he did it in the nicest way out of Emma’s friends, well, family.

The bag weighed heavily on Emma’s shoulder like it was containing much more than just the supplies.

“Now go, you little disaster, we don’t have much time left. And greet Betsy from me.” He awkwardly punched Emma in the shoulder, settled back against the driver’s seat again and used his hand to fan himself some fresh air.

Emma rolled her eyes and snickered. “You make it sound as if we won’t ever see each other again.” She winced at how true the words could be.

“We won’t see each other every day, that’s practically the same”, Barry murmured, somehow managing to sound dramatic at the same time but added a small laugh. “Maybe try to figure out some way to contact us, yeah?”

“I will”, Emma promised.

They both hugged awkwardly and then Emma left the car, constantly looking around to make sure that no one was following her. Barry waved her goodbye again and then turned the car around.

Emma shortly focused on every spark of magical energy in her heart and then sealed it off as best as possible, to make sure, that none of her surroundings knew what was going on. She had gotten used to doing it, but when she was with someone she knew and loved, the potential of danger was far too big for her own liking.

A ray of sunshine tingled under her nose and she looked up smiling. “Thanks Barry”, she grinned and with newfound courage made her way to the door that led into her grandmother’s home.

She pressed the doorbell and only a few seconds later Betsy Nolan appeared in the door frame, firstly looking confused, but as soon as she recognized her granddaughter, she smiled widely and wrapped her in a big hug.

“Emma! What are you doing here?”

Emma laughed, her heart aching at the thought of what she was about to tell her grandmother. “I wanted to see you”, she smiled and broke the hug. “Barry says hey, too. Can I come in?”

Betsy took a step to the side. “Of course, you can, you’re always welcome here. What do you want to drink?”

“Just water is fine, thanks grandma.”

Betsy strolled to the kitchen and Emma sat down at the dinner table, nearly expecting Betsy to come out of the kitchen with their dinner, like she used to when she had still lived with her. She missed those times.

“So, tell me, what takes you here?”, Betsy smiled as she handed Emma a glass of water and sat down opposite her.

Emma took a sip from the water to smooth her, now feeling somewhat parched, throat.

“Well, it’s not a… pleasant topic, but I have to tell you”, she started out, sighing.

Betsy nodded for her to go on.

“Ok, so… We kind of… might have… We found out what’s spreading the dark waves. Last time I told you about that, remember?” Emma looked up into her grandmother’s eyes.

“You told me, that there is an unusual amount of dark energy in the air, if I remember correctly”, Betsy stated.

“Yeah”, Emma nodded. “Exactly. Well, we have to hunt down and either turn or kill the thing, that is spreading it, which will be… pretty dangerous.”

“But you’re going to be fine, Emma. I promise you. You’re always fine”, Betsy said proudly.

Emma bit her bottom lip, her heartbeat increasing. “I’ll be gone for very long and…” Something inside of her still refused to tell Betsy the truth. But the older woman didn’t say anything and let Emma take her time, while she herself took a sip from her own glass of water.

“Ok, so…” Emma took a breath. Her grandmother really was her weakness, she was the only person that could read her like an open book and probably the person, Emma could get hurt with the easiest. Something inside her stung unpleasantly at the thought and she quickly continued.

“I’m not going on the quest alone, so you don’t have to worry about that. But I probably won’t be able to contact you, I- we’re going to search for that unicorn and…”

Everything seemingly came to a halt at these words and something inside her stung again, much more painful now. Shit.

“The journey will be dangerous. Incredibly dangerous”, she rushed to continue. As if a hundred eyes were resting on her, she felt more and more at risk with what she was doing. She tried to seal of the magic again, but it didn’t work. “I don’t know where I will land and everything will take me, but… grandma, magicians are on the verge of war or immediate destruction.”

Betsy stiffened. “What?”

“Nature, it’s turning against us- magicians. Something spread dark thoughts and energy that triggered thousands of years of concealed pain and memories of nature that it now tracks back to magicians, because we gain our energy from it.” Emma stumbled over her own words now, a buzzing in her ears reminding her every second, that everything around her was listening and wouldn’t hesitate to attack.

“A unicorn is eliciting the dark magic. We don’t know what turned it, if it was already born that way and why it does that, we only know that it’s powerful. Trent thought we had some time left but we really don’t.”

“Emma”, Betsy tried to calm her granddaughter down. “It’s ok. The situation may seem helpless, but you are incredibly talented and…”

“No, grandma. It-it’s not ok.” Emma stood up now and held onto the back of the chair, the buzzing growing louder. “I don’t know if I’ll make it back alive, ok? People are going to die! Innocent people! Nature doesn’t think rationally, nature does what feels right and that will be killing everything and everyone that ever used it and gave nothing back! And there is no Plan B! Yes, we are talented, but…”

A sharp pain in Emma’s chest silenced her abruptly – she hissed and twisted her face. Betsy stood up and walked over to her, but Emma stumbled back.

“No, you-you mustn’t touch me!”

“But, I hugged you before…” The older woman was clearly confused and concerned at the same time.

Emma took a few more steps back. “That was ok, because Barry distracted every force near us with a ray of manipulated sunshine. But now that I told you about everything… about the unicorn…” The pain multiplied. The unicorn was more powerful than she had ever imagined. She should have never mentioned its name. “As soon as you touch me now, when everything around us is listening, they will make the connection! Nature can’t hear, it can only understand anyone or anything because it reads feelings or reacts to triggering words. As soon as you touch me now, they will make the connection that we’re related and you will be in even greater danger than I am right now.”

The buzzing slowly died away, but the pain stayed.

“I have to go now, gran. I can’t stay longer, it would put you into too much danger.” Emma tried to smile at her grandmother, even though her face ended up looking agonized.

“Look after yourself”, Betsy only said and nodded understandingly, biting back her own fear.

“I will. But please promise me, that as soon as you feel anything slightly different around you… don’t give up.” Emma ran past Betsy towards the door, feeling everything around her changing. The air was changing, and it wasn’t good.

Betsy followed her. Emma was already standing in the door frame when she looked back again and smiled a pained smile at her grandmother.

“I didn’t want to tell you everything like this, but…” The buzzing returned. “I really have to go. I’ll find some way to contact you, I promise.”

Betsy smiled at her, biting back the tears until Emma would be gone. “It’s ok, sweetie. You will be amazing, you will save us.”

Emma didn’t make an effort of contesting and just nodded. “I love you, grandma. Take care.”

“I love you, too, sweetheart.”

A thousand invisible needles were pricked into Emma’s chest and she turned around and ran, without looking back a single time. Barry’s distraction hadn’t been enough after all. In her head she studied the map of Edgewater and ran to the place, where Angie promised her that they would be waiting. The air shifted again, and Emma thought she saw black and white sparks and shreds in it. Shit.

She dashed through the streets ignoring the people who were staring at her.

Her hand found its way onto the handle of her dagger and she cut her mind off her body. While her physical features concentrated on running, her mind focused on her surroundings. The dark energy was following her, and she would lead it directly into a crowd of people. But neither Alyssa nor Angie knew, Emma was certain of that.

She reached the mall at a record time, entered it and as soon as she spotted it, sprinted towards Angie’s remarkable blonde hair, running over chairs and tables of the outside area of the small restaurant, just next to the Applebee’s.

Angie turned around at the commotion, Alyssa next to her. Emma came to an abrupt halt right in front of them and reattached her soul to her body.

“We have to go, now”, she wheezed. “Like, right now. There… I was at my grandma’s, explaining everything and…” Emma swallowed, “saying goodbye and there’s something big chasing after me. I’m not sure what it is yet, but we have to get it away from the people,”

Angie nodded, not even complaining and turned around. “You two, go. I’ll tell the others about what…”, she hesitated. “You see…”

“Yes”, Emma urged. “And please make sure the people are safe.” Even though it was unexpressed, Emma was sure, that Angie knew, that she wanted them to keep an eye on Betsy – the probably most vulnerable human in all of Edge Water.

“We will, now go.” Angie hurried off and within seconds she was gone, dematerialized into air while running.

“Gosh, I love that trick”, Alyssa said admiringly, but then turned to Emma again. The people around them hadn’t seemed to notice Angie, but were all staring at Emma angrily, because she had run over so many chairs.

“Good, let’s go”, Emma determined, not feeling as sure of herself around Alyssa than she did around everyone else, but continued anyways. The buzzing and stinging had stopped, but the shreds weren't gone.

“There are bad spirits here, we have to go”, she added looking at Alyssa, talking to her for the first time in three days.

Emma moved from her place and within seconds they both had left the mall and stomped through the streets, Emma’s hand still not leaving her daggers handle, the sun burning down and making the asphalt burn. It was hotter than usual. She should have never even mentioned that damn unicorn.

Alyssa easily kept in step with Emma, her hands buried in the pockets of her linen pants. “Is there an entrance to a forest anywhere?”, she asked, and Emma nodded.

“There is one just near a motel, but I’m not sure if it’s still there and if we can still open it.”

“Well, we have to try.”

They were hurrying away from the crowds of people now, which was a good thing. The shreds weren’t near them anymore, but they gained their power from the fear of others, which made everything far more risky. They were little demons, admittedly weaker, but much more persistent and deadly for humans. Too many at once were definitely superior over two teenage magicians.

“Can you tell me what exactly you see?”, Alyssa asked, already sounding out of breath, but not slowing down.

“Shreds and sparks, black and white”, Emma explained and turned into a side street, the fastest way to the forest.

“Beta Demons?”, Alyssa guessed, and Emma confirmed her suspicion. “I hate these bastards.”

Emma turned into another side street. “Why do you even know them, aren’t you new to this whole…”, she awkwardly gestured around herself, “’magic is real’ thing?” Emma nearly slapped herself. This wasn’t the time to start bonding! They were leading a pack of Beta Demons away from humans, therefore putting themselves in danger! Emma hadn’t even introduced herself to Alyssa yet.

“I read a lot”, Alyssa shook the question of easily. “That’s how I prepared myself.” She looked up from the pavement over to Emma, who had now started to jog. “Isn’t that the motel?”

Emma looked up and nodded eagerly. “Yeah, it is.”

They slowed down a bit, both catching their breath. There were a few trees located around the motel and they walked over to the same tree, an oak, as if they had coordinated it through their thoughts.

“It’s not very strong”, Emma stated and put her hand onto the bark, trying to feel every unevenness. “Do you think you can help me open the door? It hasn’t been opened in very long.”

Alyssa put her hand onto the bark too, right next to Emma’s without even answering as if it was self-evidently and closed her eyes. “How do we get rid of the Beta Demons?”

“That’s the tricky part”, Emma grumbled. “We have to keep the door open long enough so all of them pass through it and then close it as soon as all of them are gone.”

With this neither of them said anything anymore. Emma let her energy flow into the tree, murmuring formulas, Alyssa kept quiet, but did her best too. Emma was surprised to see, that after a rough minute the tree started glowing and she let her gaze search for the demons again.

Alyssa opened her eyes and blinked, when she saw the tree starting to glow and watched fascinated, as it seemed to rip its own trunk apart and where a hole should be gaping, a dark green glow had taken its place and showed parts of a forest behind it. Emma had seen this very often already – she had opened so many doors in her life, but never had she opened one with the help of someone else...

But right now, she couldn’t allow herself to admire their work, because the shreds appeared again, down the street, chasing after Emma. She let go of the bark and controlled her part of the entrance from farther away. The demons were moving slowly, but the girls still had to hurry.

“Alyssa! Step aside. Let go of the bark and control the door from farther away, the demons mustn’t come near you! You could never fight them alone. Keep the door open while I fight the ones attacking us, I can’t help you while doing that.”

“But… I never… this is the first door I ever opened, I can’t control it from farther away, I wasn’t even sure I could do it from here”, Alyssa panicked.

Emma turned her gaze towards the brunette again. “Do you think you can fight them?”

“What?”, Alyssa shrieked.

“Fight them! Either we send them into a forest we will never enter, or we fight them, we can't just leave them here with regular humans”, Emma said, not looking at Alyssa anymore, but focusing on the demons, flying towards them from down the street.

“Why can you see them?”, Alyssa now asked out of nowhere. “Magicians can’t see them unless they’re in a forest or are extremely close.” She still had her hands on the bark of the tree, but the green light flickered.

“I’m going to explain it to you later, now tell me what you want to do!” Emma couldn’t help but to shout, the demons caused a small storm to erupt in her head, from focusing on them too hard. She locked all her fears away, so they wouldn’t find a way to attack her. “They’ll be here any second, now tell me what you want to…” Emma spun around, a new group of demons was flying towards them. They were much faster than the other group, much more dangerous.

“Where’s the wind coming from?!”, Alyssa now shouted, too.

“Take my hand”, Emma commanded, walked over to Alyssa again and put one hand onto the bark of the tree, reaching the other out to Alyssa. “Trust me, this is our only chance!”

After painful seconds of doubt Alyssa took Emma’s hand and the green flickered shortly, but then glowed again. Before Emma could explain what would happen now, the demons had arrived, and Emma and Alyssa were drawn into their storm. Alyssa screamed out and held onto Emma’s hand harder. The moment she felt the stinging again, Emma built up a small force field of sunshine around them, a trick Barry had taught her.

And it worked. The stinging was gone immediately, so now Emma focused on keeping the door open, Alyssa’s hand and the demons, while trying to maintain the force field, too.

The storm grew bolder and the first demons were sucked through the door into the forest. Emma smiled at the small accomplishment and focused harder.

“Focus on the door!”, she screamed at Alyssa. She must have heard her, because a few seconds later the door became bigger and bigger and the demons were sucked into it from both sides, simply disappearing.

Emma let the force field grow again, requesting just a bit more of energy from the sun, which was, to the thanks of all that was good, still on their side. And it worked. A few seconds later the mass of demons was gone, and Emma let go of Alyssa’s hand, their power immediately fading, and the door closed. The green glow was dead.

She let out a chuckle and looked around, not spotting anything unusual anymore. The storm was gone. Alyssa dared opening her eyes now too and immediately looked at Emma, who now backed away from the oak they had used. Alyssa let go of it, too.

“That was incredible”, she whispered admiringly. “Absolutely incredible, Emma how did you do that?!”

Emma shook the question of. “I’ll explain later. If it’s ok with you, I’d like to enter another forest for now.”

“Sure, where?”

Emma sighed, she was completely worn out, but nevertheless she pointed to a birch a few feet away. “Let’s use that one, birches usually work as good as oaks to open a door and sometimes the forests are even a bit more enjoyable.”

“Forests can be enjoyable depending on the tree with which you enter them?”, Alyssa chuckled, and Emma nodded.

“Yeah, pretty much.”

They opened the door on their second try, adrenaline still pumping through their bodies.

When they first tried, one little demon, that must have missed the way into the forest, attacked Alyssa and within seconds Emma had pulled out her dagger and was fighting it, looking like she was just swinging it in the air for fun. But in the end, she had killed the demon, that had constantly gotten bigger and bigger before it could invoke its relatives, and they had opened a new door.

“What the hell are you doing there!”, a strange voice growled. Emma stepped back from the tree, Alyssa still had her hand put onto its bark. The owner of the motel had left the building and was now staring at Emma and Alyssa aggressively.

Within seconds Emma did the only sane thing and told Alyssa to jump through the, now white, glow. Alyssa disappeared behind it with a silent whoosh and then Emma left the door open just long enough for herself to jump through it – the owner of the motel was left behind blinking rapidly. He didn't believe his own eyes.

The girls landed on a cool ground and Emma stood up and looked around. The door she had used had already disappeared.

The treetops were green, like they were in every magical forest. But it wasn’t a bilious green, more like a green you enjoyed looking at; dark, but not intimidating, it let rays of sunshine seep through itself. It was by far one of the most beautiful forests Emma had ever seen.

“Emma, watch out!”, Alyssa suddenly shouted and rolled over, grabbed Emma’s legs and pulled her back, making Emma fall and land in leaves and roots next to Alyssa. Only a mere second later a huge branch fell to the ground, landing there, where Emma had stood.

Startled Emma blinked a few times and then saw Alyssa reaching a hand out to her. She gladly took it and pulled herself up.

“Wow, that – that thing could have hit me”, she stammered, ironically being thrown off the track by the branch more than the demons.

“I know”, Alyssa responded, letting go of Emma’s hand to avoid any awkwardness and looked around. “But you were right, this here really does look enjoyable.”

Emma shook her head to regain the full power over her senses and spoke up. “Uh, Alyssa?”

“Yeah?” The brunette turned around, meeting Emma’s eyes who now looked down and scratched the back of her neck.

“I just remembered: I never properly introduced myself”, she said awkwardly and took a step forward. “So, I’m Emma Nolan. Nice to meet you and thanks for saving my life… again.” Emma couldn’t help but laugh slightly and nodded her head to where the branch was lying on the ground.

Alyssa chuckled and took Emma’s hand. “Well, it’s very nice to meet you, Emma Nolan. I’m Alyssa Greene.”

They shook hands and when they let go Alyssa chuckled. “In case I didn’t tell you yet, Emma Nolan, you are incredibly skilled, and you can fight like the devil.”

Emma grinned. “That was just a small demon, you are definitely more admirable. You opened your first two doors in just one day while being attacked by demons, that’s pretty impressive, too. It’s incredible.”

Alyssa blushed slightly and grinned. “Thank you. Well, I read a lot, so, you know…”

“Still, not everyone could apply what they read in real life. So, whether you like it or not Alyssa, I think you’re very talented.”

The light conversation lasted until it dawned and they both decided to look for a small hideout. Judging from this day, Emma thought that maybe going on a quest with someone else and not alone, wouldn’t be as bad as she originally thought it would be.

* * *

The events replayed in front of Alyssa’s inner eye.

Everything was dark and quiet, but she still didn’t feel like sleeping. Emma had fallen asleep right after they had found the little cave, but Alyssa still stared at her hands in disbelief. She had really opened a door.

This was the first day of their journey and Alyssa had already done something, she would have never thought that she was capable of. Admittedly, opening doors was one of the first things magicians had to learn, but it still was a challenging task.

Alyssa looked around, only a few rays of the moonlight fell into the cave. She crawled into her sleeping bag, the phial Dee Dee gave her still resting in her pocket.

When should she tell Emma about it? They had to work on this together after all, but at the same time Emma seemed to keep uncountable secrets.

Beta Demons couldn’t be seen by magicians unless they were really close or in a magical environment, still Emma had seen them. When she had asked Emma about it, the blonde had just shaken the question of.

But just minutes ago they were talking like they were best friends. It didn’t make sense.

Alyssa rolled onto her side. She was exhausted and tired and desperately needed to sleep but she wouldn’t allow her eyes to shut, until she had taken her bag and put it next to her feet inside of her sleeping bag.

All the medicine and potions she had developed were in there, it didn’t bear contemplating what would happen, if they disappeared.

She didn’t like sleeping outside. Her mother never took her on holidays and the subject of camping had always been strange to Alyssa. Why would she sleep on the cold ground where she was vulnerable when she could just as well sleep in a comfortable bed?

Her mother.

Would she be proud of Alyssa? Did she somehow know, what Alyssa had accomplished today? Secretly Alyssa hoped she did, maybe then she would accept her.

Before she drifted off to sleep, the last clear thought Alyssa had, was the sentence she always used to write at the end of her diary entries, when she was younger. “I will make you proud.” Earlier in her life, she never knew who the sentence was talking about or why she wrote it, she just did. Something inside her told her to. But today she connected it to her mother.

The phial in her pocket grew just a hint warmer.

This night Alyssa dreamed of a certain unicorn. Big and black, mighty it stood in the middle of a clearing. It was older than time itself but had just been reborn. Dangerous.

“I am going to help you.”

Its voice was deep and soothing in Alyssa’s head, promising her everything and more. It made Alyssa believe every single word.

“She will notice you.”

Alyssa approached the unicorn, reaching out a hand to touch its dark blue mane, that was glittering in the moonlight, but an invisible force held her in place. Suddenly she was just a spectator of a scene unfolding in front of her and the unicorn ignored her.

“I am short of time, I won’t last much longer. You have to do as I say”, it now said, to no one in particular. “Listen to me and follow my instructions.”

“Yes, Great One”, thousands of voices echoed through the clearing, somewhere far away in the mountains something growled. Alyssa swiftly felt a thousand times smaller and weaker than she ever had in her life.

“You have to trust me, you have to declare yourselves to my subjects. Only then will we get what we want”, the unicorn ordered loudly.

“Yes, Great One!”

Alyssa shivered. This thing was supposed to help her?

“I will lead you! We will win!”

Alyssa tried to run, but invisible forces held her in place. The unicorn looked at her, its expression had changed into something that threatened Alyssa, made her fear for her life.

“I am going to help you”, the words echoed in her head.

“Do you trust me?”, the unicorn shouted and a loud growl from the mountains swallowed all the answers.

“Good”, the unicorn said coldly, a mischievous, no, complacent smile on its features. “Find them.”

Alyssa awoke with a start and sat bolt upright. She looked around the cave, Emma slept peacefully next to her, the moonlight still lit everything up a bit. Her heart was racing.

“Emma”, Alyssa whispered, getting out of her sleeping bag. Cold sweat was dripping from her forehead. “Emma, we have to get out of here.”

The blonde blinked and sat up. “Alyssa? What is it?”, she asked, with a hint of anger about being woken up in her voice.

Alyssa rolled up her sleeping bag and stuffed it into the bag containing her potions. The phial in her pocket was sizzling hot. She shivered.

“Pack your stuff and follow me, if you want to stay alive.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! I'll try to update as quickly as possible. Until then: The goblin in my head would most definitely throw a party if you leave Kudos and comments and it makes me incredibly happy! Feel free to tell me what you think of the story so far, comments make me go crazy!!


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